Chapter Text
Bakugou had never been the most observant guy, often times he couldn't see things unless they were pointed out to him, even things that were right in front of his face, like how much he used to hurt Kaminari with his nicknames, but even he knew something was wrong with Denki.
Denki had been quite lately, he wasn't trying as hard to make everyone laugh, and he no longer wore short sleeves.
That last thing was what made Bakugou and Kirishima concerned, but they couldn't just go up to them and ask what was going on, they'd simply deny that anything was wrong, and if they tried to push Denki would become defensive and then they wouldn't get anything out of them.
So they waited, looking for the perfect opportunity to bring up their concerns. To be perfectly honest, they were stalling more then anything, neither of them was prepared to find out that their partner was hurting themself, they hated to even think about it.
In the meantime they did small things, like hiding any and all sharp objects in both of their dorms, being most thorough in Bakugou's as that was where they spent the most time, and trying to spend more time with Denki, trying to let them know they cared, without explicitly saying it, and giving opportunity for them to open up about what was bothering them on their own.
After awhile though, it became clear that Denki wasn't going to open up on their own, so finally Bakugou confronted them. They were both alone in his dorm room, and Bakugou was out of patience, he knew he should probably wait for Kirishima but he figured it was best not to crowd Denki anyway, plus, if he was right, he didn't really want Kirishima to have to see this anyway.
Bakugou had never been the best with words, or being gentle, he had always favored the direct approach, but maybe that wasn't the best way to go here, he didn't want to end up scarying Denki, or making them close up even more.
"Is something wrong, Kacchan?" Denki asked, using the nickname that Deku had come up with. "You seem a bit lost in thought."
"I'm fine, but are you? You've been quiet and both me and Kirishima are worried." Bakugou said, it probably wasn't the best way to ask, but it would have to do.
Denki was silent for a moment and Bakugou started to worry he'd messed up, but then they spoke, "I didn't wanna worry you, but I guess I failed at that, big surprise," they chuckled but there was no humor behind it, "I'm sorry, I'll try not to worry you anymore." Denki didn't look at Bakugou at all while they spoke, their eyes were pointed down and Bakugou couldn't tell what they were looking at.
Alarmed by Denki's reaction, Bakugou pressed further, "What are you hiding?" Denki didn't answer, "Please, Denki, whatever it is, whatever's going or with you, I want to help!"
Denki broke at that, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Bakugou sat in shock, he hadn't meant to make them cry, he had no idea how to handle someone crying. He simply sat there for a minute before awkwardly putting his arms around his smallest partner, rubbing their back in what he hoped was a comforting manor.
"I'm sorry," Denki whispered through tears, "I know I should've told you but I didn't know how."
"Told me what? I still don't know what's wrong." Bakugou said.
"I just..." denki started, pulling away from Bakugou, "I've been feeling so depressed again and my thoughts have been making me feel so annoying and worthless and stupid and- and..." they trailed off with a sob, burying into Bakugou's chest.
Bakugou wanted to comment on the "again" part but knew that it wasn't the time to push even more, so instead he just held his partner until they calmed down, at some point he'd repositioned them so they were sitting in his Lap, head still against his chest.
They stayed like that for awhile, Bakugou running his fingers through his partners hair as he knew that calmed them down, but there was still one thing he needed to know, "Lightning bug, can you pull up your sleeves please? I need to be sure you aren't hurting yourself,"
Denki hesitated, clearly not wanting to, but knowing there was no getting out of it, slowly, they pushed up their sleeve to reveal cuts, scabs and scars from their wrist to the inside of their elbow. Both of them stared at their arm for a few seconds before Denki quickly tugged their sleeve back down and buried their face back into Bakugou's chest, fresh tears beginning to gather in their eyes.
Bakugou went back to comforting them, letting them know that he wasn't mad at them for this but that he wanted them to come to him when they felt like this again, Denki simply nodded.